end of social work 200

Today marks the official ending of lecture in Social Work 200. I feel that today I have learned alot and really thought about the population and the future. I did not thinking about overpopulation. I kinda considered deaths would compensate for birth rates. However, there are more and more people having kids. I know that in Arabic culture the norm is at least five kids. This is alot compared to the average 2 in America. I never thought about there being an abundance in people. I did not misinterepret the fact that there is a food and wate shortage problem that is currently affecting us all. I do feel that this is where social workers can make a stand. We can help push for society. Social workers can make a difference for change.

People and Attachment

People come and go. This is what they say. It is hard getting attached to people you really care about rather its boyfriends, friends, family, random strangers. I am currenty having to deal with the stress of knowing that my boyfriend of two yearas is leaving for good to go back tohis country because he w ill be done with school. Its really stressfull and I am reallly starting t o feel detached. I am scared to get close to people because when I do, they leave. My best friend since kindergarden is thinking about moving to tennesse in a few monthes. So I feel like I am going to have a double shot of people I am close to leaving. This is an issue that I know I am going to most likley face as a social worker. I understand there is a fine line that you must not cross as being someone's friend and someone's client. However, sometimes you can not help but to get attached to someone and I am scared of getting attached to a client. I love people. But I feel like these expereiences with my boyfriend and best friend will help me detach myself a little less from people. This can be bad because I am scared that I will not be able to get closes to any one again. This is going to be an issue that I am going to have to work at. It is really stressing me out and making me angry. I just hope I can learn to balance myself and learn who to attach myself to and who not to.

Why I think I would be a good social worker

There are many people out there who are quick tempered and easy to get mad. I never thought that I would have the skills to be a type of councelor. Many of my friends have pointed out to me that I have good listening skills and that I am never quick to get mad and judgemental. I feel that these are two of the most important skills that make a person a good social worker. I used to not feel confident about this major when I first started taking classes for social work. However, now I realize that I possess that major skills that is required to be succesful in this field. I only have one more year left of college which includes my internship. I feel that I have I have soo much more to learn and am really scared that it wont be learned inone semester of school. I do understand that the other skills are learn as you go. The other day I felt unsure of myself but after a good talk with a friend, I realized that I let things intimidate me too much. If I could just focuson what I have and not try to be like anyone else. I would be able to see the good in myself and what skills I really have. I focused all my attention on how others would handle a particular problem in social work. I try to be like them. If I could be myself and be confident that I can handel a patient or social work problem in practice, then I feel that I would be a great social worker in the future.

Social Work Stereotype

It seems that everyone has a stereotype. Today someone asked me what my major was and I told them that I was going to school to study social work. The first thing that came out of the person's mouth was "your gonna take people kid's away huh". I calmy said "no..theres more to social work,...but If i have to then yes!". I am really frustrated with ignorance. One thing that annoys me the most is when people are too ignorant to realize the truth. I wish that people would become more educated. Stereotypes really make me angry!!

abortion

As part of a requirement to proceed to social work 395, it is mandatory that social work majors volunteer a total of 80 hours at an agency. I chose to do half my hours at a nursing home and half at Palmetto pregnacny center. I really enjoyed volunteering at both of these places. This week will complete my volunteer hours at teh pregnancy center. I really saw a diverse range of patients who take use of the services provided at this center. I was amazed to see how many people actually come. I witnessed many young teens come in to do ultrasounds. The issue of abortion comes to mind to alot of these teens. Abortion is a topic that has come about in so many of my social work classes. I feel that there are many reasons why a women may choose to have one. I really thought hard about this issue and believev that a women should have the right to determine rather or not she can carry on with a pregnacny. Mistakes and acciendents happen. Adoption is always a second optioin to most women, however, most women can not imagine carrying a child and being attached to it before it iseven born and then giving it away. So adoption is less likely of an option. I am unsure if i would have an abortion if I ever had an uplanned pregancy or a pregnacy in which I did not feel I could handel. I do not think anyone can really provide a true answer or opinion until they ahve been in the sitatuation. I feel that society is very closed-minded on this issue. This topic makes me mad in general. Everyone has a different opinion on what they considerlife to be and at what state in pregancy it actually is. therefore; there should be no set law on this issue.

Abuse

The other day in my social work 523 class we began our section in child abuse and child protective services. We watched a video detailing what to look for as signs of abuse. It is so sad how often this happens. I learned alot of things that I did not know like how children will act in society when they have been abused. It was a really sad video to watch but I feel I have really learned alot from the video. The class last tuesday was very informative. What I found to be most disturbing besides phycial abuse was emotional abuse by caregivers to young children. Emotional abuse can really belittle a person and cause behavorial problems. I feel that emotional abuse often goes unnoticed because it does not leave any physcial evidence. I feel that it is a real harmful form of abuse that cause self esteem issues. Working with children can be very emotional but very rewarding to help one. This video has caused me to wonder if working with families and children is the best for me. Im really intrested in mental health and families and children; however, I do not know If i can handle dealing with abused kids.

Homelessnes

Today in my social work research class there was a presentation done about homeless men and thier alcohol addictions. It made me think about how common this is in Charlotte. and all the surrounding areas. I also rethought about my perception of homeless people. The movie with Will Smith comes to mind entitiled "the Pursuit of Happiness". Where he was in decent living and lost everything he had and became homeless with his little boy. I reconsidered and learned that not every homeless person is a slob, bum, and lazy. I realized you can lose what you have in an instant. You can get fired from a job especially in this econonmy, get behind on payments, to where eventually everything you have is gone. This is a harsh reality. Thanks to this presentation I became enlightend on the issue of homelessness and have reevalutead my opinion of homeless people in general.